Cooling element

ABSTRACT

Cooling element, with multiple cooling disks ( 16, 17 ) arranged in an array to restrict flow interspaces for the air to be cooled. Cooling disks ( 16 ) extending to the inlet side for the air to be cooled, and shorter cooling disks ( 17 ) not extending to the inlet side, are arranged alternating order.

The invention relates to a cooling element according to the introductory part of claim 1. More specifically, it relates to a cooling element with a number of cooling disks being assembled to provide restricted interspaces for air to be cooled.

BACKGROUND

When assembling cooling elements with disks or lamellas arranged in an air flow to be cooled, it is important to have an efficient exchange between air and metal. The distance between the cooling disks is adapted to the manufacturing, typically without optimization relative to the size.

For some purposes, the available space is restricted, requiring compact cooling elements.

OBJECT

The main object of the invention is to provide a cooling element having higher efficiency than corresponding prior art cooling elements.

THE INVENTION

The invention is stated in claim 1. This design provides a substantial increase in cooling and lowering the temperature of air passing through such a cooling element. This is believed to be due to an increased degree of collision at the cooling dishes due to the stepwise constriction of the width of the air slots.

The claims 2-4 state particular favourable features of the invention. More details will be given in the following description of embodiments of the invention.

EXAMPLE

The invention is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 shows a side view of an embodiment of the invention, with a cooling element with dishes on cooling tubes, while

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged section of the dishes of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1 a cooling element 11 with end sections 12 and 13 is shown. Between the end sections 12 and 13, two U-shaped cooling tubes 14 and 15 connected to conduct a cooling medium are arranged. The cooling tubes 14 and 15 carry an array of cooling dishes 16 and 17 arranged in alternating order. The cooling dishes 16 extend over the total dishes 16 and 17 arranged in alternating order. The cooling dishes 16 extend over the total height of the cooling elements 11, and are connected to the cooling tubes 14, 15, while the remaining cooling dishes 17 extend half as far as the cooling dishes 16 and are mounted on the lower cooling tubes 14. The interspace between the cooling dishes be 9 millimeters in the upper part and 2.5-3 millimeters in the lower part. This means a substantial reduction of the interspaces relative to prior art cooling elements. This provides an increase in the heat transfer. The reason for this increase in efficiency is not clear, but it is believed to be due to the lower interspace creating increased molecular motion and consequently increased collisions between the air molecules.

Air molecules being cooled at the transfer from the wider to the narrower interspaces are believed to be getting an increased specific weight and thus have an increased fall velocity and simultaneously oscillate more slowly and create fewer collisions with the succeeding neighbouring molecules.

A reduction of the disk interspace to lower than ca. 2.5 millimetres will increase the risk of icing and clogging.

The cooling element 11 of the example has a vertical orientation of the interspaces, with a gravitational air flow. The cooling element according to the example can also be used in a forced flow cooling system with a fan. This provides more versatility.

The cooling element 11 according to the invention may be used for various cooling purposes, for technical uses and in housings and offices. It is suitable for cooling elements to be suspended over the goods to be cooled.

Modifications

It is also possible to achieve corresponding advantages with other arrangements of stepwise restricted interspaces. Two or more short dishes can be used between each pair with full extension. Or multiple steps can be arranged, provided the narrowest interspaces are in the range 2.5 to 3 millimetre. 

1. Cooling element, with multiple cooling disks (16, 17) arranged in an array to restrict flow interspaces for the air to be cooled, characterized in that cooling disks (16) extending to the inlet side for the air to be cooled, and shorter cooling disks (17) not extending to the inlet side, are arranged in alternating order.
 2. Cooling element according to claim 1, characterized in that the shorter cooling disks (17) extend over about half the flow distance for the air through the cooling element.
 3. Cooling element according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance between the cooling disks (16, 17) at the dense side of the cooling element (11) is 2.5 - 3 millimetres.
 4. Cooling element according to claim 1, characterized in that from 3 to 4 different heights of disks are arranged, to provide stepwise narrowing interspaces. 